Improved machine for dressing feathers



A. B. MOREY 82; W. SOARLETT.

MACHINE FOE DRESSING PEATHERS.

No. 35,773. Patented July 1, 1862.

mums; ztwmms.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMOSB. MOREY AND WILLIAM SGARLETT, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,773, dated July 1, 1862.. v

To all whom i may concern:

Be it known that we, AMOS B. MOREY and WILLIAM SCARLETT, both of Aurora, in the county of Kane, in the State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Renovating Feathers; and we do hereby declarethat the following is a full and exact description of the construction and operation of the same.

The accompanying drawing forms a part of thisspec'ification,and represents alongitudinal vertical section through the entire machine.

Our machine is intended to act on thefeathers by mechanical agency alone. "We have tested its results and found the feathers very fully,

and it appeared permauently,enlivened,without anyinjury to the material. The quantity of dust and foreign matter in various forms separated from the feathers during-their passage through onr machine is in some instances very great, and the elasticity of the feathers is always restored.

Our invention consists in means whereby the feathers are subjected to violent agitation, in suitable quantity, over a strainer under the influence of an active current of air passing downward through the strainerlor perforated surface, the operation being made continuousby the gradual feeding in and withdrawal of the material.

Our invention also consists in certain means for transferring the feathers from-a bed and supplying them to theworking part of the machine. i

To enable others who are familiar with the inventions and practices most nearly allied to this to make and use our invention, we will proceed to describe it by the aid of the drawing and of the letters of reference marked thereon.

A, B, G, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are horizontal axes or shafts mounted in a suitable framing, as represented,- so that all are free to revolve, the bearings of each being guarded and lubricated in the ordinary'manner. A is turned by a crank by hand,or by any convenient power, (not represented,)and carries a large pulley,a. B is provided-with wings B and with a small pulley, b, which latter receives a belt, D, from the pulley a. B B is inclosed in a case, E, open at thecenter of each end, andalso'at the point e, as represented, these partsforming a blower or revolving fan ofa common construction. C is armed with pegs or teeth 0, which revolve between fixed teeth F on the fixed part-0f the machine, and carries a pulley, c, which receives a cross-bclt, G, from a smallpulley, H, mounted on shaft A 011 the farther side of the machine. The shafts 1 2,

&c., are each provided with stout wings or heaters of wire, the major portion, 1', of each wire lying parallel to the shaft, but each end being bent toward the shaft and firmly driven therein, as indicated by z. The shafts 1 2 3, &c., are arranged in an inclined series,as represented, and inclosed on the top and sides in a casing, J which may be opened by releasing the hooks shown in dotted lines byj. On the lower side of this case J, and beneath the heaters, is a'continuous wire-cloth, K, so arranged as to form the lower-side of a rectangular inclined spout composed of the top and sides J and-itself, which spout incloses the heaters l. The ends of the shafts 1 2, &c., of the heaters I extend outward through the side of the case J, and are provided with pulleys L, which receive motion equally with b from .the belt D. The directions of the several motions are indicated by arrows, and it will be readily seen that all the parts described are op erated by the rotation of A, which thus acts as a driving'shaft, while B and its connections act as afan-blower. Gand its teeth act asafeeding device, and l 2 3, &c., act as a series of very eflicient agitators, arranged so that 1, 3, and 5 act in opposite direction from 2,4,and 6.

The feathers are fed down through C O,aud pass through the agitators I under the influence of a strong current of air induced by the action of the .fan B B, and which flows .out through the interstices in the wire-cloth sieve or strainer K, carrying all the foreign material which it can seize inits passage and depositing'it upon the floor beneath the machine, or' in any suitable receptacle provided for the purpose. The feathers,after a thorough cleansing and enlivening by this process, pass out at the lower end of the inclined spout into a bag, M, which may be the same from which they were poured into the hopper,unless there exists some-occasion for changing the feathers into a different sack or bed,either temporarily.

or permanently. A sufficient current of air i 1 rom the machine flows into the bag M and escapes through its interstices to aid the proper movements of the feathers.

The wires I7: and thepegs or teeth G do not] touch any portion of the fixed work or go so near as'to damage any feather whichm'ay be i between the parts.

We will now'descrihe the large hopper which is hinged to the machine and forms a feature of our invention. It is ofsuffieient sizeto contain an entire bed, and is composed of alight framing of wood covered with cloth, N. Its top a may be partially or entirely removed to allow the emptying ofa sack therein, and the entire structure is hinged to the other parts of the machine at the point P, so that it may be lowered until its under surface rests upon the top of J, and again raised to its position for use. It is sustained in its elevated. condition by the hooks R, which take in sta plcs in the sides of the fan-case E.

All the'feather-renovating machines in imechanical'compression and the addition of perspiration and the likehaving deadened the feath ers,a proper amount of appropriatebeat- "ing up ahdthe removal of the foreign'matterwould restore the fibers to nearly or quite their original condition. We have found by trial thatour hopes'may be realized,;and believe thatj ivehave developed in the machine described' an'jarrangenient' of means for .accomplishingthe e two desiderata very effectually and rapidly, and with less labor than any machine before known.

. Having now fully described-our invent-ion,

what we claim as new-therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, i

1. The within-described combination of a continuous feeder to supply the feathers from a suitable hopper, :a fan or equivalent blower, a

series of -agitators'actingwithin an inclosed case or spoutyand a perforated bottom or screen,for;the purpose herein set forth. 2; The employment-on a feather-renovating 'machineof the movable hopper N,"hinged at P, as represented, and adapted to be let down and to rest upon the surface J or its equivalent to facilitate the filling of the same, and to be sustained in the erect or elevated position to feed the feathers to the machine, as herein set' forth.

- AMOS BrMOREYi WILLIAM SGARLE'IT.

Witnesses:

W. "1. ELLIOTT, JAS. G. BARR. 

